UPDATED: N.J. train derailment tips tankers, sickens dozens (video)

Officials stand next to derailed freight train cars in Paulsboro, N.J., Friday. People in three southern New Jersey towns were told Friday to stay inside after a freight train derailed and several tanker cars carrying hazardous materials toppled from a bridge and into a creek. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

(Updated at 5:03 p.m.) PAULSBORO, N.J. — A freight train derailed Friday on a railroad bridge that has had problems before, toppling tanker cars partially into a creek and causing a leak of hazardous gas that was blamed for sickening dozens of people, authorities said.

Members of the National Transportation Safety Board arrived in New Jersey on Friday afternoon to investigate. They will try to determine whether the derailment was caused by a problem with the bridge or if the derailment was to blame for the bridge’s partial collapse.

A delicate operation lies ahead, as a huge crane was being brought from New York Harbor to pick up the dangling tanker cars.

The accident happened just after 7 a.m. when a train with two locomotives, 83 freight cars and a caboose made its way from Camden to the industrial town of Paulsboro, just across the river from Philadelphia International Airport.

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Cars from a train operated by CSX went off the rails on a swing-style bridge, owned by Conrail, over Mantua Creek.

Seven cars derailed, including two box cars on stable ground and five on the bridge. NTSB chairman Deborah Hersman said four tankers were partially in the creek.

One tanker containing 25,000 gallons of vinyl chloride was sliced open in the accident and some of the gas spewed into the air, while the rest turned into a solid and settled into the bottom of the tanker.

People who live nearby said the air was smoky in the morning. Doug Ricotta was working in his bakery when he heard a loud sound. “Next came a smell, kind of sweet — not a healthy smell,” he said. He stayed in his business and kept baking, though one catering order had to be canceled because roads into and out of town were closed for a few hours.

Breathing vinyl chloride, which is used to make the common plastic PVC, can make people dizzy or sleepy. Breathing very high levels can cause someone to pass out, and breathing extremely high levels can cause death. Most of the vinyl chloride is gone from the body one day after being breathed in.

More than 70 people were treated at Underwood-Memorial Hospital, most complaining of breathing problems, burning eyes or scratchy throats, said spokeswoman Karen Urbaniak. She said 11 arrived by ambulance, and the rest walked in. More than 60 were discharged by late afternoon, and the handful that remained were in stable condition.

Residents of Paulsboro, West Deptford and East Greenwich Township were told to remain indoors early Friday before an all-clear was given. One resident walked through town Friday morning wearing a gas mask.

By late morning, state Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Larry Hajna said that sensors were not detecting the chemical at the site.

Tom Butts, the chief of emergency management for Gloucester County, said it would take at least a day to get the large crane to the site to pick up the damaged cars. The recovery work was expected to take place only during daylight hours and it was not clear how long it would take.

The bridge usually supports at least three major trains each day serving refineries and other customers in an industrial area along the Delaware River. It was rebuilt after it buckled in August 2009 and when nine cars on a coal train detailed. Officials attributed that accident to bridge misalignment.

State Senate President Stephen Sweeney, whose district includes Paulsboro, said he had been told that complaints had been made in recent weeks about noise coming from the bridge and that Conrail was looking into it. But he said he didn’t have any details.

At a news conference, Conrail spokesman John Enright said that the company is concerned with safety and cooperating with authorities, but he would not take any questions.

Early in the day, State Assemblyman John Burzichelli, a former mayor of Paulsboro who was serving as spokesman for the town, said he believed that it was a problem with the bridge that caused the accident. But he later backed off that, saying he did not know the cause.

The Federal Railroad Administration doesn’t routinely inspect the structural safety of bridges owned by freight railroads, although it does inspect the tracks and can do an inspection if it receives a complaint or if track inspectors notice a problem. The agency last inspected the Paulsboro bridge in January 2010 and found no defects.

The railroads themselves are responsible by law for inspecting their own bridges. The FRA does not know when Conrail last did one.

The NTSB’s Hersman says her agency will review bridge safety records and other details, including the mechanical systems on the train and the structural integrity of the bridge. She said inspectors will seek to interview crew on the train and to give them drug and alcohol tests.

Burzichelli said that as long as the bridge is out, factories and refineries in the area will have to rely on shipping materials by barge and truck.

(Updated at 4:13 p.m.) PAULSBORO, N.J. — A hospital says 71 people came in complaining of breathing problems, burning eyes or scratchy throats after a southern New Jersey train derailment released a hazardous gas into the air.

A spokeswoman for Underwood-Memorial Hospital in Woodbury says 11 of the patients came in by ambulance after the derailment on a rail bridge in Paulsboro on Friday. The rest walked in.

Sixty-three patients have been discharged. The eight who remained in the hospital Friday afternoon were in stable condition.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the accident.

Within hours after the release, sensors were no longer detecting the chemical in the air.

(Updated at 2:32 p.m.) PAULSBORO, N.J. (AP) — Officials in New Jersey are backing away from an earlier claim that a bridge buckled and caused a freight train carrying hazardous chemicals to derail.

It’s not clear whether the derailment or the partial collapse happened first over Mantua Creek in Paulsboro.

Environmental officials are sending a special vehicle to monitor air quality around the site of the derailment.

At least two tanker cars toppled into the creek causing a leak of hazardous vinyl chloride into the air Friday. High exposure levels can cause breathing problems and dizziness.

Dozens of people went to a hospital complaining of breathing problems.

The Environmental Protection Department says tests show no chemical in the air now.

The National Transportation Safety Board is sending a team to the site.

A barge with a crane is being brought in from New York City so it will be at least a day before the damaged tankers can be removed.

(Updated at 12:54 p.m.) PAULSBORO, N.J. — A freight train derailed Friday on an old-style swing bridge that apparently buckled, three years after a similar failure, toppling at least two tanker cars into a creek and causing a leak of hazardous gas blamed for sickening dozens of people, authorities said.

State environmental officials said a tanker holding vinyl chloride, a gas that at high exposure levels can cause breathing problems and dizziness, leaked all of its contents. They said all of it had dissipated into the air by midmorning.

More than 40 people were being treated Underwood-Memorial Hospital, most having complained of breathing problems, said spokeswoman Karen Urbaniak. She said 11 arrived by ambulance and 31 walked in. All those seen by late morning were listed in stable condition.

Assemblyman John Burzichelli, who is serving as spokesman for the town, said the bridge apparently buckled as it did during a derailment in 2009. The bridge was rebuilt in 2010.

The National Transportation Safety Board was sending investigators to the scene.

Residents of Paulsboro, West Deptford and East Greenwich Township were told to remain indoors early Friday before an all-clear was given.

The derailment occurred on a bridge over Mantua Creek, which empties into the Delaware River just across from Philadelphia International Airport.

Three major freight trains cross the bridge daily, serving refineries and other customers in this industrial area. Calls to Conrail were not returned.

State Senate President Stephen Sweeney, whose district includes Paulsboro, said he had been told that complaints had been made in recent weeks about noise coming from the bridge and that Conrail was looking into it. But he said he didn’t have any details.

Authorities said at least four of the cars on the bridge contained vinyl chloride and a fifth was hauling ethanol.

They said the derailed cars would not be removed at least until Friday night and that the removal effort could take even longer.

EARLIER VERSION OF THIS STORY

(Updated at 10:36 a.m.) PAULSBORO, N.J. — More than a dozen people are being evaluated for possible respiratory problems after a freight train derailed on a bridge in southern New Jersey and dumped several tanker cars carrying hazardous materials into a creek.

Officials at Underwood-Memorial Hospital say 11 people have been transported with complaints related to the rail accident in Paulsboro and five more arrived on their own. The hospital’s communication’s office says all are believed to have complained of having respiratory problems.

Residents in three towns were told Friday morning to stay inside after the derailment.

At least one tanker car was believed to contain vinyl chloride. Exposure to the gas at high levels can cause dizziness and drowsiness.

The cause of the accident hasn’t been determined.

(Updated at 9:49 a.m.) PAULSBORO, N.J. (AP) — People in three southern New Jersey towns were told Friday to stay inside after a freight train derailed and several tanker cars carrying hazardous materials toppled from a bridge and into a creek.

Emergency management officials issued the advisory to residents of Paulsboro, West Deptford and East Greenwich Township as a precaution.

TV helicopter footage showed at least two tankers in Mantua Creek and one hanging over a trestle, part of which is seemingly collapsed. The creek empties into the Delaware River just across from Philadelphia International Airport.

The Environmental Protection Agency said short-term exposure to high levels of vinyl chloride can cause dizziness and drowsiness.

A spokesman for the state Environmental Protection Department says officials are trying to determine what the cars were carrying.

The Gloucester County Times says 18 people are reported to be having difficulty breathing.